13 December 2016

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (The Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 Part 4), the registering body (Dr Patel & Partners) is required to provide to the Care Quality Commission a statement of purpose.

Our Aims and Objectives:

Provide a high standard of Medical Care

Be committed to our patients needs

Act with integrity and complete confidentiality

Be courteous, approachable, friendly and accommodating

Ensure safe and effective services and environment

To improve as a patient centred service through decision making and communication

To maintain our motivated and skilled work teams

Through monitoring and auditing continue to improve our healthcare services

Maintain high quality of care through continuous learning and training

To guide our employees in accordance with diversity and equality

To ensure effective and robust information governance systems

Treat all patients and staff with dignity, respect and honesty

Our purpose is to provide people registered with the practice with personal health care of high quality and to seek continuous improvement on the health status of the practice population overall.We aim to achieve this by developing and maintaining a happy sound practice which is responsive to people’s needs and expectations and which reflects whenever possible the latest advances in Primary Health Care

The health care assistants can provide the following services: blood tests, blood pressure checks, new patient health checks, ECG/heart traces.They also assist the doctors with procedures.

Practice Staff

Andrea Kitchen is the Practice Business Manager is responsible for the smooth running of the practice.

The reception team man the reception desk, arrange various appointments, pass on information (such as blood results), explain our services and answer the emergency telephone line.The secretaries are able to answer patient enquiries concerning communications between the Practice and other agencies, eg. hospitals

The administrative team is responsible for updating and summarising patients’ medical records, for the repeat prescribing service, for organising the specialised clinics, for ensuring that our IT systems are functioning properly, and undertake regular audits of our achievements.

Each team have a full knowledge of the services the practice has to offer.

These may be requested if you believe that you are too ill to attend the surgery.If you need a doctor to visit you at home, please telephone before 10.30am and give the receptionist as much information about your present illness as possible; this will enable the doctor to assess the degree of urgency when planning his/her rounds.

Out of Hours

NHS Rotherham is responsible for commissioning medical services when the surgery is closed.The out-of-hours service can be accessed by telephoning the normal surgery telephone number.

Booking Appointments

Appointments can be made by telephone by calling 01709 724738 for Broom Lane, 01709 551157 for Kimberworth Park, or in person at reception from 8.30am.We operate an appointment system for all surgeries.Our aim is to offer an appointment with a Primary Care professional within 24 hours and a GP within 48 hours.

Appointments can be pre-booked sometimes up to six weeks in advance.Although there are a limited number of pre-bookable appointments, this should enable you to make an appointment with the doctor of your choice or at a time to suit you.Further appointments are released weekly, which gives added flexibility to our system.Other appointments are released daily; same-day appointments should be requested when a condition or illness needs a health professional’s input that day.We will endeavour to give you an appointment with the practitioner of your choice.If we are unable to achieve this we will explain why.

Extended Hours

The surgery offers extended hours on:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Friday 7.30-8.00am

Monday evening 6.30pm-8.30pm

Extended hours are available at one site each week and accessible to all patients.

These appointments are especially beneficial to those patients who find daytime appointments difficult.

The general surgery phone is not open during these extended hours.

Urgent Appointments

We take into account that not all illnesses are planned.We therefore have same day appointments available in the morning and in the afternoon.

We aim to give patients an appointment within 48 hours to see a doctor and 24 hours to see a health care professional in line with the government’s ‘Access Plan’.

Prescriptions

Authorised prescription requests will be dealt with, within two working days using the repeat re-order form which is attached to the prescription.

Patients are asked to make certain they tick the medication they require on the request form, insert the date, and sign the form before forwarding it to an approved pharmacist, posting it to us with an enclosed stamped addressed envelope, placing it in the box which is situated in reception, post it to us or through our website.

The Regulated Activities under CQC

Management of chronic disease

This encompasses a wide range of conditions which require long term treatment and care.Our priority is to ensure this care is on-going and appropriate; to this end we shall endeavour to review patients’ medication on an annual basis.Angina and heart disease, asthma, chronic COPD, diabetes clinics are regularly held throughout the year.

Together the doctors and midwives monitor and advise on the antenatal and postnatal care of our mothers-to-be.

Cervical Screening

This services is provided by specially trained nurses.

Family Planning and Contraceptive Services

Nurses are able to provide all options available to male and female patients.Teenagers and young people can talk confidentially to a nurse on all aspects of sexual health.

Child health surveillance

Baby clinics are held weekly at the surgery by our nurse team with support from a doctor.

Minor Surgery

The practice operates a fully equipped clinical unit, where a range of minor surgery procedures are carried out.Patients are referred by their doctor.

Vaccinations and Immunisations

Dr Patel & Partners supports childhood immunisation programme.All routine childhood immunisations are performed at the surgery by a nurse following an automatic invitation from the Local Health Authority.Dr Patel & Partners offers all ‘at risk’ patients the seasonal influenza vaccine every year.

Foreign Travel Health Advice

Our nurses have been trained to provide an up to date service that includes vaccinations if necessary (please note that there is a charge for some vaccinations).Prior to appointment patients will need to fill in a ‘Travel Questionnaire’ which can be printed from our website or picked up from reception.This form is to be filled in by the patient and brought to the nurse appointment.

Counselling

We have the services of NHS counsellors who are available in-house to see patients who are referred by their doctor.

Clinics are held each week by Phlebotomists.Our Health Care Assistants also do blood tests under the guidance of the practice nurses.

Audiology

Dr Patel & Partners holds facilities for audiology checks.

Objectives

Develop and improve patient care pathways

Provide alternatives to hospital based specialist treatment

Provide timely assessment of patients

Reduce the secondary care waiting lists

Help manage patients in primary care through specialist advice and feedback

Ensure excellent communication with referring doctor, patient and the community clinic.

Access to Patient Information

All patient information is considered to be confidential and we comply fully with the Data Protection Act.All employees have access to this information in relation to their role and have signed a confidentiality agreement.Information may be shared, in confidence, with other NHS organisations in the interests of patient care.

Confidential patient data will be shared within the health care team at the practice and with other health care professionals to whom a patient is referred.Those individuals have a professional and contractual duty of confidentiality.

Confidential and identifiable information relating to patients will not be disclosed to other individuals without their explicit consent, unless it is a matter of life and death or there is a serious risk to the health and safety of the patients or it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so.

In these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve a legal purpose may be revealed to another individual who has a legal requirement to access the data for the given purpose.

That individual will also have a professional and/or contractual duty of confidentiality.Data will otherwise be anonymised if possible before disclosure if this would serve the purpose for which data is required.

Data Protection Policy

The Practice is committed to security of patient and staff records.

The Practice will take steps to ensure that individual patient information is not deliberately or accidentally released or (by default) made available or accessible to a third party without the patient’s consent, unless otherwise legally compliant.This will include training on Confidentiality issues, DPA principles, working security procedures, and the application of Best Practice in the workplace.

The Practice will undertake prudence in the use of, and testing of, arrangements for the back-up and recovery of data in the event of an adverse event.

The Practice will maintain a system of “Significant Event Reporting” through a no-blame culture to capture and address incidents which threaten compliance.

DPA issues will form part of the Practice general procedures for the management of Risk.

Specific instructions will be documented within confidentiality and security instructions and will be promoted to all staff.

Patients Rights and Responsibilities

You have a right to expect a high standard of care from our practice and we will try at all times to provide the very best care possible within the resources available.

In order to assist us in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you do not abuse the service.For example, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep medical appointments and follow the medical advice given.In addition, if you feel that your medical problem is complicated, or you have more than one problem to discuss with your doctor, we would suggest that you consider making more than one appointment.Please remember that your appointment is for you alone and your doctor will not be able to give medical advice to anyone accompanying you unless they have made a separate appointment.

Very occasionally a practice/patient relationship breaks down completely.In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different practice.The practice also has the right to remove that patient from their list.This would generally only follow a warning that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific reason for the removal.

You have the right to express a preference of practitioner when you make an appointment.

Zero Tolerance

The Practice supports the NHS Zero Tolerance policy against violence, aggression and the use of inappropriate language.Any incidents of abuse to GPs, their staff or other persons on Practice premises will be taken seriously and could result in the individual(s) being removed from the Practice list and/or involvement of the police.

In this situation we are obliged to notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and circumstances leading to it.

Comments, suggestions and complaints

Should you wish to make a complaint, please ask to speak to the Practice Manager.The Practice Complaints Procedure is available from the Practice Manager.

If you have any suggestions about the Practice please put these in writing and place in the box in the waiting room.If you would like a response please put your name and address on the suggestion.

General Information

Access to Health Records

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, we are required to allow you to access your medical record.If you require access to your medical record please contact the surgery for further advice.All requests should be made in writing to the Practice Manager.We are entitled to charge a fee to cover our administrative costs.

Carers

A carer is someone who, without payment, provides help and support to a partner, child, relative, friend or neighbour who could not manager without their help.This could be due to age, physical or mental illness, substance misuse or disability.Anyone can become a carer, carers come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be of any age.

Please inform our reception staff if you are a carer or are cared for by another person.This will alert us to your possible needs in this role.

Change of personal details

Patients are asked to notify the Practice as soon as possible of any change of name, address or telephone number; not forgetting to indicate all the persons involved in this change.In an emergency this could be absolutely vital.

Chaperone

The Practice is committed to provide a safe and comfortable environment where patients can be confident that best practice is being followed.We have a Chaperone Policy which adheres to local and national guidelines.Patients are encouraged to ask for a chaperone if they require at the time of booking their appointment wherever possible.All patients are entitled to a chaperone present for any consultation where they feel one is required.

Patient Confidentiality

The Practice is registered under the Data Protection Act.The Practice complies with the Data Protection Act 1998, Access to Health Records Act 1990 and the Computer Misuse Act 1990.The Practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times.However, for the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team, it is sometimes necessary that medical information about you is shared with the health care team or with others providing care.To object to the disclosure of information, you should write to the Practice Manager.

Patient Participation Group

Dr Patel & Partners are committed to continually improve our services by learning from and listening to our patients.

We now have a Patient Participation Group and we are always looking for new members, please ask reception for a form or submit the form on our website.